


Barely even friends

by Rosie_sparks



Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Genre: Beaston, I promised this fic and by gods I'll deliver it, Love at First Sight, M/M, there isn't enough of these out there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:53:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26559256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie_sparks/pseuds/Rosie_sparks
Summary: Thousand hugs to my beta ThePinkJellyfish
Relationships: Adam/Gaston (Disney)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 48





	Barely even friends

**Author's Note:**

  * For [heretically_yours (assaic)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/assaic/gifts).



> Thousand hugs to my beta ThePinkJellyfish

The place packs with the members of the townsfolk as the sun gives away to the night sky. A few of them are sticking to their usual activities of betting, bantering and drinking or continue to fight amongst themselves while the others join in LeFou's quest to cheer and encourage him after today's event, which had ended in disaster

Gaston's thoughts stray from LeFou's singing as he stares disconsolately at the fire in the tavern. He was devastated since Belle, the girl who lived in the cottage at the end of the road, the most beautiful girl in the village, the girl that was meant to be his by all accounts, had humiliated him by declining his proposal, his hand in marriage. He never thought—

"No one's slick as Gaston–" he groans as his best companion, who has been with him ever since his mum passed away, tries his best to lift his mood– "as incredibly thick as Gaston."

He gulps down three mugs of beer to drown his sorrow and himself along with it. The angelic triplets’ voices joining the chorus pulls him from his internal 'woe is me' monologue.

LeFou jumps on the heads of the four men sitting at the corner table and rises up as the crowd cheers more, continuing the abomination. "In a spitting match nobody spits like Gaston," he yodels as he passes from one man to another along the expanse of the tables.

To LeFou's relief his best friend seemed to lighten up and, with newly found enthusiasm, he choruses much louder than before.

Somewhere between when the body of the small man was being thrown around and the triplets’ high pitched chrousing of the song, Gaston finds himself much lighter and his spirits lifted. Jumping onto the main table and splashing the drinks across the floor, he continues the rest of the song and sings to his heart's content. 

With him joining in, the band resumes their playing and soon the entire population joins the merry band as they sing in an alcohol-induced haze and their faces bright with smiles and laughter.

The abrupt bursting open of the front door shakes everyone. The song comes to halt, drinks spilling and conversations interrupted when Maurice, the father of Belle, runs into Gaston frantically and cries for help.

"Maurice!?" He says, surprised, not expecting the old man anywhere near a tavern.

"H-he's got her. He's got her locked in a dungeon. You have to help save my daughter!" He hollers at everyone present to gain their attention.

"Slow down, Maurice. Who's got Belle locked in a dungeon?" 

"A beast, a horrible, monstrous beast!" He exclaims, gesturing with his hands. 

After a long moment of silence, the whole tavern bursts into laughter and continues to mock the old man about this imaginary beast he apparently came up with. Gaston, however, knows better than to mock the man, for he had heard stories of such beings as a child.

This would do no good, Gaston realises. Taking his rifle, he addresses the crowd, "I’ll show him to his house. Continue your celebrations!" and leads the man, along with LeFou, away from the place.

"All right, what exactly happened?"

As the man continues to describe the palace, Gaston feels as if he’s heard this tale before. A tale of a beautiful castle beyond the valleys and across the rivers, a castle so magnificent that it stuns every living being in its place. He shakes away the feeling, berating himself for thinking of  _ that  _ woman again.

The man leads him until the familiar fork in the road makes its appearance, one filled with luscious trees and beautiful flowers that give way to the city market, and the other with wild, withered and dry trees which he himself hadn’t dared to enter in all his years of hunting. The howls of wolves, screeches of inhuman voices, the thunderstorms that seemed to visit the area and the eerie folk tales of the land being cursed by a witch kept everyone from so much as looking its way.

He can only imagine what kind of beast held Maurice’s daughter. The old man nods at Gaston, confirming his suspicions.

"Are you sure you want to do this? So much for a mere girl?" Lefou voices his worried thoughts.

Gaston lays a hand on his shoulders, hoping to reassure the man beside him, "I wasn’t able to protect  _ her _ LeFou. Maybe this will be my way out of that guilt that eats me away every day. Because whatever holds her is more of a monster than I am."

"If you fail to return in two weeks, I will gather the rest of the townsfolk and come for you."

Gaston shakes his head, "No, I don't want anyone dying on my account. If I cannot kill the beast, then the rest of the townsfolk most definitely cannot. However, I do want you to fetch Tilly for me. "

“Matilda!” LeFou gasps, “Are you sure about this? After that day, we’ve never-”

“I know, but something about all of this seems like the mark of one person, someone Tilly would definitely want to meet."

Turning to look at Maurice, he vows "I make no promises,but rest assured, I will not return unless your daughter is safe." Gaston takes one last look at both men before stepping into the cursed land.

He looks around and grimaces at the sight he sees; the soil barren, trees withered, bushes hiding hooked thorns and any semblance of vegetation is no doubt poisonous. He moves forward only to come across the footprints and deduces they are of wild animals. More alert , he takes a dry piece of wood and turns it into a torch. Now, with both the moonlight and his torch illuminating his path, Gaston strengthens his resolve and walks at a much faster pace. He stops in his tracks when he hears a growl that echoes throughout the expanse of the forest. The sounds of branches crunching, a few more growls and jumping follow soon after.

Feral wolves, he realizes.

Bringing himself to alert, he loads his rifle and moves his torch around to meet the pack of ferocious wolves. He aims at the wolf on his left, the one that is slowly inching closer than the all of the rest, and takes a rough shot. With a howl, the animal slumps to the ground with a thump. This further aggravates the pack and four other wolves pounce on him all at once. His torch is thrown away and he shoots aimlessly in hopes that it will hit at least a few. A few more mewling and moaning sounds of pain reverberate through the air and before he can take his next shot, one of them lunges and bites into his right calf. With a scream, he tries to pry it away from his leg as another leaps towards his left side, right next to his jaw. Clenching his teeth, he pushes the rifle, barricading the wolf, and shoots the one he'd been holding with his bare hand. Ripping his leg from the other wolf, he tries to hit the other one only to find an empty sound resounding. 

He was out of bullets.  _ Shit. _

Twisting and moving away from the last wolf, he slowly backs up and looks around to find something –  _ anything –  _ to help him kill this thing.

Seeing a rather heavy stone, an idea pops into his head. He throws a couple pebbles to the other side in order to distract the wolf. Grabbing the huge stone, he lunges forward with a scream and smashes it into the wolf's head. He repeatedly hits it –  _ again and again –  _ until there’s no noise from the thing below him.

With a sigh, he slumps to the mud in exhaustion. Moving his fingers to check if it was wet, he registers the fact that his entire right leg was numb and bleeding heavily from the wound. He rips apart his already torn fabric and wraps it tightly around his wound to stop the bleeding.

A blinding lightning flashes across the sky and it starts pouring. Great. Just  _ great. _

Heaving a sound of annoyance, he pushes himself up with a stick and inspects the wolves. For all his hunting days, he has never once come across any so feral. Looking into those eyes that seem to emit an eerie glow even in death, he comes to the conclusion that this isn't a pack of wolves that usually roam around the deep forest. It has the mark of a witch written all over it. He can spot a magical aura when he looks more closely.

This day just seems to get worse with each passing moment, he decides as he reflects on the day's events. He comes across the dried tracks of a path which he suspects might've been a river. Passing through a valley of dry lands and parched fields, he finally spots his infamous destination. It’s enormous and magnificent and every bit as enchanting as it had been told to him through stories. The now pouring rain and weather only add to its captivating appeal.

Pushing through the gates, Gaston moves inside to see a dead garden. Bushes with thorns instead of blooming flowers and trees with only bark, no fruit or leaves. In the middle of the clearing is a marble statue. A statue of man so beautiful that everything else falls apart. Limping forward, he moves closer to take a better look. Unconsciously, his hand moves to caress the cheek of the state. The man made of marble paints such a picture of melancholy that it seems to engulf him. Transfixed by its beauty, Gaston fails to notice the dark figure staring at him from the balcony. He moves closer to graze against the lips of—

Ear shattering thunder brings him back to his senses. He wrenches himself away and walks faster towards the entrance to escape the rain.

***

“Show me the girl!”

Adam stares at the mirror forlornly. The girl is in her bedroom crying her eyes out and sobbing about her current situation.

He supposes her reason for worry is right, for she is, in spite of all luxuries, a prisoner. Locked in a faraway castle with no means of escape and only a beast as company, who is currently hoping to gain her love. Which just makes it all the more unfair because for the life of him, Adam cannot look at the girl with anything other than platonic feelings.

Soon, the new year will roll around and he will never be able to break the curse. This girl, who is at the top of the west wing of the castle is his only hope. Not only will he forever stay in this form, but the lives of what's left of his subjects will take their last breaths. Even knowing this won’t bear any fruits, he has to try. He owes it to the last survivors who look up to him everyday with a reverence that even his father hadn’t been graced with.

His musings are interrupted when he sees the wilting rose glow in the dark room. Emotions that he has buried deep down for almost a decade seemingly emerge. Maybe he was wrong about the girl, maybe she'll be the one to break the curse, maybe–

A loud creak of the massive front gates shakes him from his thoughts. Intruders.

Fangs sharpened, claws protracted and eyes narrowed, he goes to the balcony to see who'd dare enter this cursed castle. Did that girl's father warn the people in the village? But who'd be barmy enough to buy his story?

A rather tall man limps in, he takes in his surroundings, looking around as if in awe. He enters the garden and inspects the dry and withered vegetation. Adam's gaze narrows as the man spots the marble statue of him that had been sculpted before he had been turned into this thing. He moves to caress the cheek of statue and the beast's breath hitches as the man moves his lips to—

The deafening crack of thunder stops the man and he rips himself away, charges towards the entrance.

With an irritated sound, Adam walks away from the west wing and down the stairs to see the man. He moves silently in order to not attract attention and hides in the shadows of the front lounge. 

The smell of blood hits his nose before he can completely tale in the sight of the main. The stranger leans to one side and his right leg looks to be heavily wounded and bleeding. He moves towards the chandelier and Adam finally looks at his face–

_ Enthralling. _

There are no other words to describe the man before him. Blue eyes and sun kissed skin with beautiful black curls frames the face of the breathtaking creature. His shirt is torn apart, revealing a muscled torso. Adam is stunned by this image until a weary voice speaks, "You need someone? Then take me, not little Belle. That innocent girl, of all people, does not deserve this. Fight with someone of your own strength!"

Even with the wounded body and righteous speech, Adam finds this adorable. Face flushed and nose pink in the night's cold, the man looks positively cute. All his mind can think is about how much he would like to wrap this fiery thing in a bundle of blankets and protect him even in the face of death.

The rose that glowed and lightened up the whole room a couple minutes right before the man's arrival flashes in Adam's mind. It had started glowing right after this man came in, he breathes, with the sudden realization. Then and there, he decides that if anyone has the power to break the curse, it will be this man before him. Now all he has to do is make sure he stays here with him in the castle, hopefully forever.

"Come and face me, you coward!" An angry voice echoes throughout the front of the castle.

The weather outside seems to reflect the emotions of the man near the fireplace. It rains heavily and thunders from time to time, snapping just like the fiesty thing before him. Adam can tell that a storm is brewing from the east coast.

What a temper this future husband of his has, he muses and thinks he will have to manipulate the man and use his wit instead of force.

He takes a step into the light and lets the candles around him show his beastly appearance, "I have no interest in fighting you. What I do care for, however, is a deal."

Gaston takes the appearance of the beast- no  _ the man _ , for no animal could behave in such a way- and takes a step back, "What makes you think I'd make a deal with you?"

"Belle. You want her free do you not? I'll let her leave in exchange for you. All I need is for you to stay with me for the next three months"

Suspicious, the man takes another step back, "Why are you doing this?"

"Companionship. I've been all alone in this castle long enough," Adam offers, hoping this will be enough to convince the male.

"You… Need a friend? For three months? And if I agree, you'll free Belle?" He asks, his voice laced with suspicion.

Adam tenses slightly, his head already churning up a million different ideas to make the man before him stay if he refuses.

"Okay then. My name is Gaston. What's yours?" 

Flabbergasted, Adam blinks at the sudden change in attitude. After an eternity or so, he finally picks himself up and replies "Be—Adam. The name's Adam."

With a satisfied nod, Gaston falls head first into his chest and sags.

  
  
  
***  
  
  



End file.
